Hiking & Mountaineering Activities

Sometimes you climb to the top of a 'mountain' and it is just a hike. Other times, you summit a peak and it is called 'mountaineering'. I'm no expert, but I say that if its over 14,000 feet, it qualifies as a Mountain! Hence, the attraction of the Colorado 14ers. At that elevation, you noticeably feel the oxyen deprevation / elevation sickness, if you are not acclimatized, and you are exercising even semi-intensely.

Sometimes you climb to the top of a 'mountain' and it is just a hike. Other times, you summit a peak and it is called 'mountaineering'. I'm no expert, but I say that if its over 14,000 feet, it qualifies as a Mountain! Hence, the attraction of the Colorado 14ers. At that elevation, you noticeably feel the oxyen deprevation / elevation sickness, if you are not acclimatized, and you are exercising even semi-intensely.

Table of Contents

Adirondacks

• Blueberry Mountain
• Big Slide Mountain
• Algonquin Mountain

Colorado

• Quandary
• Mt. Massive

Utah

• Arches Park - Delicate Arch
• Arches Park - Landscape Arch & others

New Hampshire

•  North Conway, Firetower

 

Photo

Description

 

 

Blueberry was my first solo climb of 2008. It was interesting because I already had a half-day's worth of climbing in at Poke-O-Moonshine, so I was starting to get tired. I wanted to climb to the next peak, but could not continue due to snow clogging the paths. As I descended I had such a beautiful experience listening to spiritual music, I realized there was something special about this 'getting in touch with nature' business. But I nearly got lost in the multitude of trails, and That is when I decided to Buy a GPS!

 Big Slide Mountain is not that difficult of a climb, but it was a slow process that day. It was a hike organized by the Alpine club of Canada, Montreal section. We met many people on the trail, stopped frequently and snacked often. So it was a long day, and not very strenuous. This is the one peak I did not truly summit, due to the constraints of the group. But I learned how to use my trekking poles (on the flat trails) in a very powerful & rapid way - I felt like a machine!

From alpine peak of Algonquin looking at Mt. Colden. Mt. Algonquin (the 2nd highest in the Adirondacks) was my final training hike before Colorado. I had to summit & return with plenty of energy to spare, in order to build my confidence. So when I was about 250 feet from the summit, the mountain steward and the forest ranger forced everyone off of the summit on account of thunder. We had to retreat to tree line. That is where I first started getting trained that you Really Dont Want To Be On Top Of A Mountain During A Thunder Storm! This affected me deeply in Colorado...

Photo from summit of Quandary. Now Quandary was an interesting climb for me, because it was my first solo mountain over 5,500 feet so I was not sure what to expect. I was nervous, and I started late in the day. So I was in a hurry. As I climbed the weather got worse & I got more nervous. I left some gear at a rest stop & had to go back & get it. I wasn't thinking clearly due to oxygen deprivation. Then it started snowing and I freaked out & almost panicked. I had not even reached the crux of the climb yet & I felt thoroughly stretched. It wasn't pretty.

On Massive I again got a late start. As I was climbing, one of the forest rangers warned me about a weather system that I could not see from my vantage point. He advised me to keep a real close eye on that system. But he let me keep going up the mountain. As I climbed I began to see the rainclouds building that he referred to. Then I met a 2nd ranger coming down the mountain who advised against trying to summit. He warned me that if I got caught in trouble, is was NOT their job to come & save me - I was on my own! Well I fearfully kept going. At the top I could see that there were dark clouds everywhere - then the Thunder began. That's not a good sign! I was real scared & practically ran back down the mountain.